


Revelation

by hirusen



Series: 1 Impostor Remains [1]
Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Character Death, Fear, Fights, Gen, Gentleness, Getting to Know Each Other, Human Crewmate(s) (Among Us), Impostor Black (Among Us), Impostor Lime (Among Us), Language, Medical Conditions, Medical Device, Medical Examination, Medical Procedures, Names, Nonbinary Character, Outer Space, Protective Impostor (Among Us), The Author Regrets Nothing, The Skeld (Among Us), Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:42:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirusen/pseuds/hirusen
Summary: The crew, after a last minute crew change before their departure from Mira HQ, find out a horrific secret about the two newest members. The question is, can they even trust him after the secret's out?
Relationships: Impostor & Crewmates, Impostor & Mini Crewmates
Series: 1 Impostor Remains [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962445
Comments: 16
Kudos: 114





	1. Arrival/Departure

**Author's Note:**

> I had to! I'm sorry!

"Ok, that looks like everyone..." Yellow muttered to himself, chuckling when his daughter cuddled up to his leg. "It'll be alright, sweety." "I know, papa! I just don't like the start..." Yellow knelt down and placed a hand on her tiny shoulder, all of the crew and their children already in their suits. "I know you don't. But The Skeld's navigation A.I. is the best on all of Earth. It'll get us to where we need to go." Yellow glanced up to look about the Headquarters.

If it wasn't for their suits they would've passed out by now; after all, Mira HQ was built to be the highest place at the highest known safe atmosphere.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came their way, Yellow quickly standing back up and standing in front of his daughter, his eyes narrowing through no one could see it through the visor. He wasn't sure if he groaned or growled as he saw two more people running to the ship's boarding dock. "You're late! IDs, now." He barked and both of them produced their IDs.

"Black and...Lime." Looking at the boarding list, there was a new notification from Headquarters. Opening it up on his tablet, he read as the higher-ups had to do a last minute transfer for two more crewmembers for their trip to Polus. A sigh escaped him this time. "...Alright. I've marked you both. Get on, we're leaving in two minutes."

Black sighed in relief, quickly hurrying on board, but Lime lingered. Yellow got the strangest inkling that Lime was staring at his daughter with malice, and being rather protective of his little girl thanks to his witch of an ex-wife, he quickly slapped the back of his hand against Lime's shoulder, getting their attention. "Either you board now, or I leave you here." "...Sorry..." Lime spoke, her voice sounding thick and garbled, before she moved to board The Skeld. _Rough night?_ She sounded like a friend of his after he got REALLY smashed the night before.

He shrugged it off, picked up his little girl, and the duo boarded the ship; the loading ramp withdrawing as the door was sealed and moments later, The Skeld was off for its long journey to Polus.


	2. Early Days

Blue chuckled as he watched the children, whom they dubbed Mini Crewmates, play in the cafeteria. Things were going as planned. The first few days into the trip always was boring as the A.I. guided The Skeld to Polus. Though, he'll admit it was a strange assignment; when Headquarters had tried to check in with the team on Polus, they recieved no reply and after pinging for life signs and received only faint two pings, the higher-ups decided to send a team up to investigate what happened.

Though why did they sent a team of this size? 13 members? It was too large of a group; the normal size was a team of about 6 or 7, and they sent a team of 10 every three months to rotate people between Polus and Mira HQ, allowing people to return to their homes and families during their shore leave. "Ah, careful!" Blue scolded as a few of the children nearly tumbled into the table benches.

Yellow, Pink, Brown, White, Cyan, and Red all had children with them since they were single parents and couldn't leave their young children alone in their homes; sure, they COULD try to hire a babysitter to watch over them while they're away, but the price people charge to watch over children when their parent works for MIRA is well... The price range is a little fucked up. "Want a second pair of eyes?" Blue glanced up and chuckled as Purple joined him, sitting next to him on top of the table. "I'm fine, but I won't mind the company."

Purple giggled as she leaned against him, all of them still wearing their helmets despite there being enough oxygen on the ship for all of them to safely have them off. "I figured. Didn't you say that you were an older brother?" "Yep. Oldest of 11 siblings." Purple nearly fell off the table, Blue laughing warmly in response. "Yep! That's the usual reaction!" "Jeez...how big of a family did your folks want?" "About three kids. It's just that mom's family is a little more prone to having twins and triples so the numbers grew rather quick."

"What made them keep going once they reached their number?" "Well, mom was hoping for at least two girls..." "Ah." "Yep. She got three of them in the end." The duo chuckled again, Blue waving to Brown as he walked into the room, him waving back as he picked up his kid. "I'll admit," Purple started, catching Blue's attention, "this is gonna be a really boring trip." "You think so?" "Yeah. I know one of the guys who are at the Polus base; he's a tech madman and probably just pulling a rather rude and expensive prank on the higher-ups."

"Oh, um...That was Polus's crewmember Green right?" "Yep. He's an ASS sometimes." "Well, let's hope he's scared enough of you to buy us drinks when we all get back."


	3. Sabotage

His fingers danced quickly over the consuls, hacking into the A.I. system. From what she could gather while she snooped around without drawing Yellow's attention, the Polus team didn't know how big of a crew was coming to them, only that one was. The two crewmembers that they consumed, the ACTUAL crewmembers that were suppose to be here, not them, was a small boon for them. The one he consumed had technological knowledge, which is why he's even able to do what he's doing.

Human technology was really strange and odd, and he had no clue how on their home planet that they're even able to understand this stuff.

"Hurry it up." She growled out as she kept watch by the door, not wanting anyone to see him doing this. This little runt was always slow, but he provided good work when it was needed. Of course, she's been filled with glee when she was assigned to take care of this batch of humans. The two they sent to Polus were young, sloppy, but did seem to manage to get the job done.

She hunched her shoulders when she heard that he stopped typing. "What's the issue, whelp?" "...This doesn't feel right." "I don't care what it _feels_ like, runt. I want that A.I. offline. It'll interfere with our mission." He glanced over to her, his actions seeming defiant, but his body language showing otherwise. He knew his place and he should've known better than to try and speak against both her and the mission. "...Oh. I think I know what's got you so bothered."

She cooed as she stepped a little bit closer. "You're worried that you won't get anything to eat. Don't worry, I know you're fond of a few of the humans here; I'll leave those ones for you." He swallowed nervously, but thankfully she thought it was just his hunger showing up. "Good. Now come on, get that A.I. offline." He turned back to the consuls and went back to his typing, and a few moments later...

_"Skeld A.I. offline. Manual repairs required."_


	4. Revelation

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Yellow barked, standing up onto a table after everyone gathered in the cafeteria. "Something has happened to The Skeld's A.I. and while we're still moving towards Polus, we need to repair the ship to get the A.I. back online!" He then tapped his tablet a few times and everyone else's tablets pinged a few seconds later. "I've given each of you a list of tasks I need you to complete based on your background and experience. You may travel in groups or as individuals, but please prioritize completing all tasks given to you before helping others.

"If you share a task with someone you're traveling with, it would be efficient to complete the tasks together. It's quiet a lot that does need to be done, but if we work together, we'll be finished within a few hours." No one dared argue Yellow; he was the head chief of security and has been on over 40 missions for MIRA. His experience is unquestioned, and given that he managed to save a ship of 15 by himself after both O2 and communication nearly went critical, he's considered a hero among most of the MIRA staff and crew.

Black, however, felt himself grow stiff. These tasks...he and Lime wouldn't be able to complete; they don't understand how human technology works! "Just focus on the mission, runt." Lime hushed in his ear and he swallowed nervously again. Why did they send her with him? If it was anyone else, maybe he could create an accident that gets them killed, but her? He knew he had no chance against her. Maybe that's why they sent her.

Black flinched when Red placed his hand on his shoulder, snapping his head to him. "You ok?" "Y-Yeah. Just a little shaken." "I get that; it's not normal for the A.I. to go offline like this. Just breathe and do your tasks, and things should be fine!" He could hear the smile in Red's voice again; he was always an optimistic man, always ready to try and proved a joke and a smile when someone seemed upset or stressed. "You want me to come with you?" "NO!" Black shouted, making Red flinch and take a step back, but Black quickly cleared his throat and tried again. "No. I've got a lot of tasks in electrical and I focus better if I'm alone."

Red nodded his head and placed his hand on his shoulder again, giving it a light squeeze. "We'll get this ship up and running again soon. I promise."

* * *

The chutes were both emptied, the shields had been primed, and two data sets had been sent when the alarm for an emergency meeting was called, everyone dropping what they were doing and running back to the cafeteria. Tan's hand was still slammed down on the button, panting harshly and quickly skirting away from Lime when she entered the room. "Keep her away from me!" "Whoa! Tan, what happened?" "I was in Storage when she just suddenly tried to come at me with a knife!" "What?!" The group was stunned by the accusation.

"Oh, come on! I didn't come at you with a knife! I didn't come at you at all!" Lime defended, somehow managing to make herself sound innocent. "Tan, did you have a task in Storage?" "No, I was on my way to the Lower Engine to start aligning the outputs." "Ok, Lime what were you doing?" Pink was a surprisingly good mediator. "I was heading towards Admin to swipe my card. I realized I hadn't done that yet." And it was a common task for everyone in the crew; Yellow was using it for a head count.

"Alright, and where did you come from?" "I got a little lost so I came from the Lower Engine." Lime explained and it seemed that her story makes the most sense. "But I saw the knife!" "Look, I know we're all a little on edge because of the A.I. going offline, but let's just calm down and think. Do you think it could be possible that, while she was walking past you, you saw her tuck her tablet back into its pocket and mistook it for a knife from the lighting?" Pink asked and Tan was quiet for a few moments. "...Maybe..." The group seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Okay. A lot of us have a few tasks in Electrical, perhaps we should all just head down their and get those out of the way?" Green spoke up and everyone seemed to agree. Of course, the thing Black was worried about happened.

Everyone froze as two of the doors in the Cafeteria slammed shut, and a low, animalistic growl emanated from Lime. Black had backed away to the only opened door, fear crawling up his spine. He shouldn't allow this, he shouldn't, but...

The humans watched in horror as Lime's body started to morph, her helmet's visor breaking as a sharp, three foot long, razor edge tongue broke through, her back arching into an impossible angle as it snapped and cracked back into its original shape of nearly twice the length of a human spine; three rows of needle teeth shined in the light as her hands warped into long, almost bony claws that were edged with cartilage that looked like knifes. Most likely the same ones that Tan caught sight of.

"A little odd for me to be sloppy, but this works just as well." Her voice was that garbled mess that Yellow first heard when Lime and Black first boarded the ship. The children screamed and were quickly snatched up by their parents as the horror before them, the rumors they were so sure were rumors, stood in front of them.

An Impostor.

"Lime...don't do this..." Black spoke and a few of the crew whimpered. Was he one too? Did he already know what Lime was and kept quiet? Why? To be spared? "Oh, hush, whelp. You'll get your share."

 _...No. Not this_ _time._ Black's resolved hardened. He's watched too many times as she killed dozens and dozens of humans. Not this time. Not while he's here.

She'll have to kill him first.

"Lime, back off. Let these humans go." She growled and glared at him, knowing that the group of humans before them won't dare try to move. They saw, just faintly in the light that dripped into her visor, as seven pairs of venom yellow eyes glared at Black. "Shut up, whelp." She turned back to the group, but all of their attention turned back to Black as he quickly ripped his helmet off, the sound of it slamming into the group echoing through the area. "Zera, don't!" Yellow felt his breath catch for a moment; no one knew another crewmember's name, only the code name they were given based on the color of their suits.

What also got all of the human's attention was that Black looked just like them: a honey skin tone, short black hair, and bright blue eyes. Same facial features as a human, the correct number of them and placements. Was he really an Impostor? That question was answered when this Zera ignored him and tried to lunge, another animalistic growl ringing out, and for a split second they saw Black as he seemed to flash behind Lime, or Zera, or whatever they'll call this Impostor.

His forehead bloomed with three more eyes, all a solid cat's eye yellow, his fingernails had lengthened to razor sharp claws that dug into Zera's flesh deep as his mouth opened up, showing that both sets of his canines and lateral incisors had morphed into some kind of cross of a wolf's and a big cat's. And thick, almost black blood spurted from the bite that Black sunk into Zera's throat, those teeth easily sinking through the suit she wore and a howl of agony ripped out of her, Zera reaching behind her and snaring Black in her grip, ripping him away and slamming him into a nearby wall.

Black grunted, but quickly lunged at Zera again, ripping his claws through her leg, and hunks of meat sloped off with the motion, the sound too wet as the chunks slid across the floor. " **RUN!** " Black shouted, his hands and mouth coated with blood, but Yellow didn't need another invitation. "This way!" He shouted, his voice seeming to be the thing to snap the group out of their stupor and all of them running for the hallway that would lead them to the Medbay and the Upper Engine, but the door to the Medbay was locked, and going through the area, the doors to the Reactor and Security were also locked.

Zera most likely had planned to chase them through a maze that would end up with all of them dead. Herding them like cattle through a slaughterhouse.

Black grunted loudly as Zera smashed him onto the floor then quickly clambered into the nearby vent, most likely trying to cut off the humans. Pushing himself up, he sprinted at the door to his right, barreling right through the metal and scattering into the Weapons room, his claws digging into the ground for traction, angling himself towards the hallway and bolted. He pushed himself off the hallway walls, bouncing between O2 and Navigation, running across the walls towards Shields, and there he saw Zera towering over the group of humans. His feet found purchase on the railing and he shot forward through the hallway, slamming into Zera with a thunderous crash, the Impostors clattering across the cargo.

Black found his balance first, going to the far end of the room and storming forward, shoulder down and slammed into Zera, shoving her into the hallway before following up. Orange hissed through their teeth as they saw Zera's claws go deep into Black's body, but he didn't stop, clawing and biting and ripping any part of Zera he could get to. The duo ended up in a power struggle and Zera flung Black through the sealed door, the humans horrified at the mere force it took to cause it to be ripped off the walls as Black hit it.

It was a macabre scene inside the cafeteria, thick blood and pieces of muscle and skin were littered about the place, the trail of it telling how Zera managed to get to the Storage so fast. And she was in pretty bad shape, large chunks of her legs, arms, and body were gone, bone coated in blood being shown, but despite that she was still able to fling Black into the wall near the group. "...W-We're all gonna die..." "No, Cyan, you aren't. No one but Zera is." "But how?! She's not slowing down!" Purple screeched and Blue saw as Black's human eyes darted around the area, looking for something to help him win the fight.

Then he spotted it. The button to the airlock. Black turned to the group, seeing that Blue saw what he did and the duo nodded, but before anything could be done, Purple screamed and Black whipped back around in time to see the tentacles protruding from Zera's back moments before they wrapped around his arms and legs, binding him as she hosted him up into the air. There was a small clatter that went almost unnoticed as Zera pulled Black towards her, her many eyes narrowed dangerously on Black. "Sending you on this mission was a mistake!" Black stayed silent, but that hastily changed as the tentacles around his arms quickly moved so one was around his waist and the other was around his throat, a weak choking and gasping being heard, his hands trying to rip the offending limb off his neck.

Suddenly, a gun shot pounded on everyone's hearing, Black's groan of pain drowned out by Zera's banshee like scream, the Impostor dropping Black and the group seeing as one of her eyes had been shot out. Yellow turned to see White holding the gun, her arms shaking and his breathing heavy, but their hands steady despite that. "Blue! Keep all of them back!" Black shouted as he bolted for the button, the alarm that the airlock had opened sounding and Zera scrambled to grab hold of something to prevent her death, her knife-like claws digging into the edges of the airlock and having just enough grip to hold on. Black wasn't having any of that, the humans--who were struggling to stand against the force of the sudden pressure difference--watching as he kicked off the wall hard enough to arc right for Zera as he came down, his feet together as they smashed into her face, causing her to lose her grip and finally get sucked into the vacuum of space.

Black had barely managed to hold on to the edge of the airlock thanks to his claws, being careful to not pierce completely through the metal, and carefully climbed back into the ship, his hand slamming on the button and airlock sealing again, Black slamming back onto the floor once the pressure had stabilized. He scooted himself up onto his hands and then fell against the wall, blood still leaking from his wounds, his suit in tatters, breathing heavy, and his secret now revealed.


	5. The Truth

Black didn't flinch as the barrel of the gun he had was pressed against one of his inhuman eyes, opening them up to see White standing over him. "If you wanna do it, do it. I'm not gonna hurt any of you." "You're damn right you aren't, you freak!" "White!" "No, shut up, Pink! I don't care if this **_thing_** saved us! It's not human!" "ENOUGH!" Yellow barked and the whole room went silent. "...Black, are you able to stand?" "In a few minutes. She got me pretty good, plus White did shoot her eye out through me. Good shot, by the way."

White scoffed but they weren't gonna stop the small smile that spread her lips; his face was still hidden by his helmet anyway. "So the ACTUAL Black and Lime..?" "Dead. Consumed. Only way we could've gotten on board the ship." Blue and Purple were tending to the children, hushing their cries and trying to comfort them, even Red was trying to help them out. These poor children were gonna be scarred for life now. "What happened to The Skeld's A.I.?" "We sabotaged it." "Fix. It." White ground out, but Black just shook his head. "Can't." "Can't or won't?" "Can't. We don't understand human technology that well; knew enough thanks to the original Black to do what I did, but I don't know how to reverse it."

As they were talking Orange saw as the injuries that had been inflicted were starting to heal on their own at an incredible speed. "...Will Zera stay dead out in space?" Orange's sudden question got everyone to tense up. "Yes. Once we've died we can't heal. And while we don't need oxygen to breathe, the vacuum of space kills us just as well as it does you." Well, that's a small comfort. Black slowly pushed himself up using the wall as support and limped his way over to a nearby table. Yellow joined him, as well as White, Pink, and Orange, the others staying back either to help with the kids or to try and recover from the shock of what just happened.

"Do you have a name?" Yellow started, but Black shook his head. "I'm a runt among my people, and runts don't get names." "Because of your physical abilities?" Orange asked, but again, Black shook his head. "I'm too soft, I'm told. Don't like killing." "Had no problem killing Zera." White bit out, but Pink leveled a rather impressive glare through his visor. "Would you rather I let her kill you all?" Black shot back and White scoff, glancing away. "...She mentioned that 'you'll get your share'. Does that mean..?" "She was going to spare a few of you for me to kill." Pink swallowed nervously.

"What can you tell me about how you kill? You clearly aren't human, yet you had a gun on you." Orange spoke, gesturing towards the weapon that White still had, the barrel still aimed for Black. "We can use knifes and guns, yes, but when we don't have those we use our bodies and strength to kill." "Using your bodies how?" "You saw what both Zera and I could do when we fought; that tongue is normally something all of my kind have--again, I'm a runt, so I don't have a lot of the normal things--and is sharp enough to pierce the metal of this ship. If she wanted, Zera could've used her tongue to sort of harpoon herself to the ship. Of course, she's not quite smart enough think to do that."

"And your strength?" "I can take your head in my hands and with no effort on my part just twist my hands and snap your neck." Pink tilted his head. "But you've interacted with us a lot. None of us had injuries or wound up dead." "That's if I was trying to kill you, and like I said, I don't like killing." Black still hadn't turned back to looking like a human. "...Are you just more comfortable like this?" Yellow asked and Black sighed, slumping forward a little bit. "I'm actually not sure if all of you humans would be comfortable if I stayed like this, or if I went back to looking like one of you. You know the truth now, after all." "You're...worried about how WE feel?" White asked and Black nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else, a small blob of red peaked out from next to Black, Red's child having somehow escaped the others and came over to the table. Their hands were raised and Black quickly lifted the child into his lap, smiling softly to the fragile being. "Yes, little one?" He didn't try to stop their hands as they reached for his face, tiny hands touching his other eyes and his inhuman teeth. He heard as the other humans softly hiss through their teeth as they did so, but Black just stayed still, opening his mouth a little wider so the child could touch his teeth a little easier. "Not like us?" "No, little one." "Are you going to hurt us?"

And the humans at the table were shocked by how soft Black's eyes had turned at the question. "No, little one. And if I do, it will not be intentional." After a moment, Red's child nodded and carefully clambered down from Black's lap, making their way back to the group, Pink and Black watching as Red quickly embraced his child.

Black sighed deeply, and Yellow glanced back to him. "...I want to help you repair the ship, but I don't have enough understanding of human technology to _actually_ help." "What can you do?" Yellow asked, and Black finally slumped forward enough that his arms now rested on the table. "Unlock the doors, repair the Lights and Communications if they stop working, and can help stabilize the Oxygen and the Reactor if they start to go critical. Other than that, there's nothing else I can do." Yellow raised a hand up to most likely where his chin would be if he wasn't still wearing his helmet, contemplating something. "...Well, there's nothing else we can do, I suppose. Can you use the card reader in Admin at all?" Black shook his head. "...Why don't you all go and do your tasks? I'll focus on getting this mess cleaned up."

Yellow had been trying to forget the literal blood bath that was behind him. "And how they hell do we know you won't actually hurt any of us? Not hard for anyone to lie to people, let alone a child." White growled and while Yellow didn't quite appreciate their tone, she did have a point. "Well, unless any of you know to get into the vents on the ship?" Black countered and his point had a chill running down the group's spine. "Is that something all of your people know how to do?" Black nodded. "We're predators who like to hunt as unseen as possible. I'll only be in there long enough to clean the blood out so the whole ship doesn't start to smell like a corpse."

"No, I can't allow--" "Alright, go ahead and start. We'll all head to Electrical." Orange, of all of them, countered Yellow's words as they started to leave his mouth, and the humans were in stunned silence at their actions. "Thank you, Orange. I'll only be ten minute in the vents if that." Black informed them before he stood, walked over to the janitorial supplies that were in the Cafeteria, grabbed a handful of towels and then went into the vent.


	6. Is It Mutiny?

"What. The. Hell. Orange?!" White barked, his voice loud enough to startle the other group that had been away from the table, a few of them now looking at her. "You're just allowing that **thing** to go through the vents? You're just going to undermine Yellow's authority?! He's the head of security! We're all suppose to follow his directions when something like this happens!" "And what would we have been able to do against Zera?!" Orange shouted in return, silencing White in their tracks. "They're _both_ Impostors and yet Black murdered his own kind to save us! Doesn't that mean something to you, any of you, when we now know those rumors were actually true!"

Orange isn't one to speak out like this. They were always quiet, always shy when it came to speaking, and never got verbally aggressive like this unless their patient was at risk of dying. What just happened clearly meant something to them if they're acting like this. "And the military does it all the time! That doesn't mean we can--" "Orange, why did you undermine what I had to say?" Yellow asked and while White didn't like being cut off, he wanted to hear what Orange had to say. "...He's scared." Pink spoke up instead, getting the group to glance to him.

"Black's scared. Not for his life, but for ours." "Why? What does it have to..." White started, but her words died off as a thought entered his head. _Impostors are real. If they're real then..._ "He's scared that more of his people are waiting at Polus for us. Scared for the crew that was, or possibly still, at Polus." Pink stated what the group was thinking. Yellow forgets from time to time that Pink was their Communications specialist and was trained to read people quickly and accurately. "He's just trying to show us that he's only here to help and protect us, not hurt us. I was just giving him a chance to do so." Orange finally spoke up, answering Yellow's earlier question.

One of White's sons came up to them then, they picking him up and holding them tightly. Orange understood White's worry; parents will do anything in their power to ensure the protection and survival of their children. "I understand that you don't trust him, White, but please let him help us." White glanced to Orange. "You saw what happened when Black and Zera fought. You may be our weapons expert, but when we boarded we weren't given weapons. You only have that gun because Black brought it with him." Said gun was on the table now, still pointed at where Black had been. "It's possible that he had to follow Zera's lead to sabotage The Skeld's A.I., and now is just trying to make up for that." "...Fine. But I'm keeping an eye on it until we get back home." Orange's shoulders sagged in relief, so it seemed like that was settled.

"...Let's get going." Pink spoke up and the others nodded their heads, all of them standing and heading back to the rest of the crew. "So what's going to happen?" Blue asked and Yellow took a steadying breath; the crew might not like what he has to say next. "Black is going to stay with us until we figure out what happened to the Polus crew and return home. For now, we'll all head to Electrical and continue working on our tasks." "What? You're just going to allow an _Impostor_ to live with us?" "I don't think he means to harm us." Yellow stated and the group settled down. "If he did, he won't have tried to stop Zera, won't have attacked her, won't have protected us from her. He risked his own life to save all of ours; I saw it in the way he fought, now that I've had time to process everything, that he didn't care if he died doing what he did. He was going to force Zera to kill him before she ever got the chance to get to us.

"There's also...another concern at hand that makes having Black with us a beneficial thing to do." "Which is what?" Green spat out and Yellow took another breath. "From Pink's observations, he believes that Black is scared for us." "What? Why?" Brown asked and both Pink and Yellow exchanged a glance before Yellow stepped forward. "We were sent on this mission to discover what happened to the Polus crew, as well as retrieve the data from the site. And, we now know that Impostors are no mere rumors; they're real." Yellow trailed off, and he watched as the rest of the crew realized why Black was scared for them.

"If the Polus crew is still somehow alive, which is the best case scenario, there's a high probability that there is Impostors among them. And there is a strong chance that those Impostors are more like Zera than Black, which means it's better for us to have him with us when we land on Polus." "...What about general safety? Polus is a huge station." "We'll discuss general safety for Polus when we arrive. For now, we'll all go to Electrical and whoever has tasks there can begin them. Once they are finished or if you need to head to a different area to complete your tasks, you will take one or two of the remaining crew who aren't doing tasks for Electrical and head to your area. After those tasks are done, stay in those groups and complete the rest of your tasks."

They all turned to look at the vent as it squeaked open, seeing Black climb out of it, some smears of blood on his face, but he quickly wiped those away with a clean spot on a towel, all the ones he took with him now dark with Zera's blood. "Yellow, is there a place for these to be disposed of?" "Yes, we'll have to clear out the chute here again, however." Black, who seems to have decided to turn back into looking human, frowned. "...Purple, you did the chute here, right?" She flinched at the question, but nodded her head. "Can you show me how it works?" "I thought you didn't understand human technology?" Yellow asked and Black nodded. "I don't, but that doesn't mean I can't try to learn."

Purple, after a moment, walked towards Black, the Impostor waiting patiently for her guidance. She hesitated but walked over to the chute, Black following her, but kept a few feet away, clearly trying to comfort her unease by giving her space. "You know how to dump things into the chute, right?" "It's this slot here, right?" Black asked, his hand touching the metal handle of the slot for the Cafeteria chute. "Yes. When you've finished putting everything you need to dump in it, you pull this lever all the way down, and you'll need to hold it for a few seconds to make sure it's empty." Purple explained, pointing to the lever. "After you've done that, you'll need to head to Storage and pull that one in the same way to fully empty the chute." Black nodded, and quickly put the bloodied towels into the slot.

"Is..." He started, taking a moment to think about what he was going to say. "Would you be ok if I came and got you if I have any problems? Or would you feel more comfortable if I went and got someone else?" Purple, though she still had her helmet on, looked stunned. And so did the rest of the crew who weren't at the table; they knew what Black could do, the monster he is, and yet he's doing everything he can to keep people comfortable around him. It's probably why he turned back into looking like a human; they all know he isn't one now, but since he looks like one, they aren't in constant fear that he'll try and hurt them.

"...I-I, I would...be okay with that. If you don't mind that I bring with me my group." "Oh, no, that's fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with me getting you if I needed help." Black clarified and Blue felt his mouth drop open when he saw Purple's shoulders slacken a little bit. Black turned to the group then. "I'll be cleaning up the mess here for the most part." "And if we don't see you here?" "I'll be in the hallway between here and Storage, Storage, the hallway between Communications and Storage, or Communications. She...left a lot behind."


	7. Can We Really Trust Him?

Yellow stayed quiet when Black said that he'd be in Communications. He knew there was no vent near or in that area; the only one would be in Electrical. As the group slowly made it way over to said area, all of them careful to not step in the blood that was splattered on the ground, Yellow was bracing himself to see a trail of it leading out of the area. To his surprise, there wasn't a single spot that he could see in the dim light of the area. Yes, there was some in the hallway from here that lead to Storage, but that was all he saw.

 _Why lie? Why did_ _he..._ Then Yellow remembered that, outside of Black and Zera it seemed, he was the only one who knew about the vents. It was a security issue, after all, if a stowaway happened to sneak onto the ship and hides in them. The vents were designed so that humans couldn't actually get into them, but if Impostors were shapeshifters, then they could easily fit into them and sneak around. "...Yellow?" "Hmm? Oh, what is it, Green?" Green glanced away from him and fidgeted with her fingers, thinking on what she wanted to say. Green was an interesting case; she had extreme social anxiety, which made it hard for her to even do her job, but at the same time she was always so insistent about joining the away teams instead of staying with the staff at MIRA. Yellow, however, has gone on a few missions with her before and knew that it was better to just give her time to get her words straight instead of trying to prompt a response from her.

He noticed that her shoulders relaxed as he talked to the other members of the crew, keeping tally of who was in which groups. "And I'm just thinking that--" "Um..." Green finally started up again, and Yellow quickly held up his hand to stop Cyan from speaking, giving the young woman his full attention. "Be honest with me, please. ...Do you trust him?"

Such a blunt question with a complicated answer.

"Trust him how?" Green went back to fidgeting. "Continue, Cyan." He knows he seems rude whenever he does that, but he knows how Green works the best (besides Pink, he imagines). The last of the groups were out, leaving only Yellow and Green in Electrical; she still hasn't figured out how to clarify her question, so she decided to busy herself by doing her tasks, Yellow not minding being her partner when she left. His daughter had gently pulled on his hand and he glanced down to her, chuckling when her arms were stretched up towards him and he quickly picked her up, cradling her against his side while they walked to the secondary location Green needed to be to finish her task. "Do you...trust him to keep his word of protection? And do you trust that he _will_ continue to protect us?"

Good questions.

"...I do. I can't fully explain why, but something about the way he's always making sure that we're comfortable around him, how he backs away when he can see we aren't, that has me believing that he's more likely to betray his people more than us." The duo glanced to each other then. "I'm not saying that there isn't a fragment of doubt that he'll suddenly turn murderous on us--I am head of Security and all--but that thought is on the farthest back-burner in my head that I've got." Green nodded, reaching up to place a gentle hand on top of his daughter's helmet, both of them enjoying as she giggled.

* * *

White held his sons's hands as they followed Brown towards Shields. "What do you think of him?" "Black?" White asked and Brown nodded, flipping the switch to reroute the power to this section of the ship. "I mean, he seems to actually worry about us, but..." White chuckled softly then, getting Brown's attention. "You're asking an ex-sniper for the army and Marines what I think of a thing that's designed to not only blend in among us, but to be a perfect hunter?" "You were in the military?" Brown asked, genuinely interested.

"Yep." White confirmed, popping the 'p' as she said it. "Seen a lot of shit that makes me not trust something like Black." "Even though he's trying to help us?" "Just because it killed Zera doesn't mean we can trust it. Plus, who says that it won't hand us over to any Impostors that are waiting on Polus? Until it gives me something to make me trust it, I've got that gun trained on the back of its fucking head." Brown frowned, knowing that White won't be able to see it. Brown always has his nose buried in a book, and he wants to believe that not every bad guy was a **bad** guy. That it's sometimes circumstance or their only means of survival that made them that way.

He still believes in second chances and that there's good in everyone, no matter what they look like or did in the past. Everyone can be redeemed.

That mentality still gets him picked on a lot, but he's just learned to roll with the punches at this point; no one can change his mind, and he's not gonna try to change the mind of others. People are allowed to hold their own opinion about things. "...What did you use to do, by the way?" "Huh?" Brown glanced to White then. "Before you joined MIRA, what did you use to do?" "Oh, I was a librarian." "Where did you work?" "In New York." White stumbled a step, one of their sons giggling at the stuttered movement. "You don't sound like a New Yorker." "Well, I talk to a wide group of people from all around the world; I picked up on all of their accents and...well, that's how my mess of one exists." It was true, from the few times White had heard Brown talk, that he had no real distinguishable accent to his voice. Most of the people here had west coast accents, with the exception of Blue, Black, Orange, and Cyan; Blue's was more what you'd hear from a farm boy, Orange's just sounded southern, Cyan had a more of a drawl to her voice at times while at others, it had a more softer tone to it, making Cyan sound like they were raised with Russian or Greek native speakers.

Brown's daughter gripped his leg and both he and White felt the blood drain from their bodies when they saw claw marks on the walls of the hallway. They were long and deep enough to remind White of an animal's, and when he glanced to the right, she saw the dents on the railing. Following the hallway, both of their sons behind him, White saw the dents and claw marks Black left behind. When the group reached the Weapons room, Brown gasped softly as there were deep claw trails left in the floor and the doors that separated Weapons from the Cafeteria seemed almost discarded in a corner, a large dent where the doors met visable.

This is what Black was capable of. Was it right to trust him? Was it even safe to?


	8. Concerns

Black had finished cleaning up the mess he and Zera left in the Cafeteria, now working on the remaining trails Zera had left behind (Black already having cleaned up his mess when he went into the vents), when he spotted one of the children. They were in the same color suit as Pink. Black walked over to the child, making sure his footfall was heavy enough for the young human to notice him, he quickly raised his hands when the child flinched and squeaked out a yelp. "I didn't mean to scare you." He knelt down then, still a good few feet away, and looked at the child with worry on his face.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Black had moved to Storage to finish cleaning, since he didn't quite have enough to time without drawing suspicion to himself to get this area started when he first began the task. "...Dad said to stay here. Something happened to Tan, so he, Orange, and Dad went to the Medbay to check on him." Black didn't like the sound of that. He knows the suits the humans wore were airtight, so none of the spores should have gotten into their body, not to mention that Zera was sucked into the void of space before she died, so there really should have been no way that the spores should be on the ship.

Unless that was something those like Zera could willing control? Was it something more natural predators had control over? He thought the spores were only released from the wounds his kind sustained after they died; was he wrong?

Shaking the thought away, Black offered Pink's son a warm smile. "Well, would you be ok if I stayed with you until your Dad came back?" And then the child did something that surprised Black. They ran into his body, their tiny arms coiling as tight as they could around his belly. Instinct took over and he quickly wrapped his own arms around the tiny human, feeling and smelling the stress and fear coming from the trembling form in his embrace. "You'll keep all the bad monsters away, right?" "I promise. No bad monsters will ever harm you. Not while I'm alive, little one. I promise."

Pink's child glanced up to him then, Black easily seeing through the tinted visor and saw the little amount of joy in their eyes at his words. "Even the ones under the bed?" "Oh, those monsters don't have a chance to get you. Not with me and your Dad here to protect you." He reassured and a soft giggle escaped the child then, the fear leaving them and the stress they felt slowly dissolving away. "...Will I be tall like Dad one day?" "Of course! You wanna be tall now?" "Really?!" Black nodded his head and the child eagerly agreed. Wrapping his hands carefully around the child's waist, Black lifted them up onto his shoulders, carefully holding onto his legs to keep him steady, and stood back to his full height, hearing as the child on his shoulders gasped in amazement.

"Whoa... I can see so much stuff from up here!" "Oh yeah? And what can you see?" "I can see one of the engines, and past the boxes, and...that you have dust in your hair." "Hey!" Pink's child giggled.

* * *

"...It seems to have worsened." Orange sighed, Pink frowning under his helmet, but Tan--who had to remove his helmet for the exam--just looked accepting. "I had a feeling this might have been my last mission before this got the better of me." "...How are you so calm about this?" Pink asked and, for the first time since they met, heard Tan laughing. "I've known about this for over 20 years. It has no cure or treatment, and even though we caught it right as it was forming, had no safe way to remove the affected area." "How old are you, Tan? I can't find it in your medical records." "Old enough to be happy with the life I've had."

 _Ah. He asked for that information to be removed._ Orange though to themself as they double checked Tan's pupil dilation. No change from the start of the exam. "I'm honestly surprised you've made it for 20 years. This version of it kills with in the first 4 years." "Well, considering I was also suffering from the virus that broke out again after it was controlled in 2021, the doctors said that I would only have 2 years to live." And yet here he was, 18 years past that death date. "...Is there anyone we should notify?" Tan shook his head. "My parents disowned me when I told them I was gay and my husband died in a car crash 1 year after I was diagnosed." "I'm sorry for your loss." Tan smiled to Orange, a somber look in his pale green eyes.

A lot of how Tan looked could be described as pale. His eyes, his skin, his brown hair which had to be much thinner now than before he got this thing.

It was clear to anyone that looked at them that they were dying and yet the man looked as happy as any healthy person.

"Do you feel well enough to walk, or do you want to rest for a while longer?" Orange asked, and Tan shook his head. "I can finish my tasks." "Alright. Well, come get me if you don't feel well, alright? I knew that I had an urgent patient on board, and I want to make sure that you can at least make it for the journey back home." Tan smiled then, a warm anguish on his lips and what could be tears shining in his eyes for a moment. "...I would like that too."


	9. Relief

The crew were all gathered in the Cafeteria, a nervousness skittering through everyone including Black, as Yellow tapped on his tablet for a few more moments. And then.

_"Skeld A.I. online. Route to Polus resumed."_

The relief heard in the group cheering was able to be felt on Black's skin. The repairs took longer than anticipated since he and Lime were Impostors and thus couldn't do the tasks that were meant for them; it took Blue and Cyan some time to figure out how to work the Navigation panels since that's what the Original Black was specialized in, and the Original Lime seemed to have been trained in understanding how The Skeld's reactor operated, which was a major headache for Red and Pink; not to mention there was a sudden asteroid storm that they were suppose to have passed originally if Black hadn't sabotaged the A.I., but White was quick on the guns and took out enough of them for The Skeld to safely pass through it.

"Good job, everyone. Unfortunately, due to the delays, it'll be another 13 days before we reach Polus, but we will indeed make it there." Red's child raised their hand and Yellow called on them. "Why longer?" "Well, we originally were heading right for Polus when the A.I. first went down, but after the incident with Zera, the sudden pressure difference caused the ship to turn a little bit, putting us off-course. The A.I. is currently correcting our route to Polus, which will be about a two day correction." The ship drifted **that** far off-course?

Pink noticed that Black, who had decided to sit a little further away from the rest of them, slumped his shoulders and his head dropped pretty low. He still hadn't bothered to put his helmet back on, and his eyes were looking away, making sure that he couldn't see the crew in his peripheral vision. He was ashamed that the extra time was his fault. Pink glanced to Yellow, who offered him a small nod, probably noticing the same thing, and then informed the group that they will continue preparations for their arrival on the Polus base.

But Black managed to scurry away quicker than Pink or Yellow could try to say something, not sure where he was going. "I hope he's not going to be too hard on himself." Pink stated as Yellow walked up to him, feeling as his hand slid onto his shoulder. "I hope so too. I mean, it is thanks to him that we're even alive right now." If Black hadn't intervened when he did... Yellow did his best to suppress that shudder of dread before anyone noticed it.


	10. 12 Days Until Arrival

No one has seen Black.

Orange had checked the vitals of all of the crew--Lime's indicated that Zera was indeed dead--and they saw that Black was still alive, which was a small relief for the crew, but it didn't settle any of them that they couldn't find him. "Is he really blaming himself that hard for this?" "Why shouldn't it? It's it damn fault that it's taking us longer to get to Polus." "White!" Purple barked, but he just waved their hand at her. "Thanks to it, we're now an extra day out from Polus. If there ARE Impostors at the base, that's an extra day for them to kill anyone who's still alive; it's an extra day for them to set up a trap to take us all out. It should feel bad about this!"

A crack was heard as, to everyone's surprise, Cyan slapped White across her helmet. "I do not understand how on earth you're a parent when shit like that comes out of your mouth!" She screamed, her son hugging her leg; the whole crew knew that Cyan was not a woman who gets this angry this quickly. "Black was coerced into sabotaging The Skeld's A.I. by Zera. Based on his actions, he clearly didn't want to do something like that, and he's trying to over-correct his mistake by seeming to take himself out of the picture."

The group grew quiet. Cyan...was right. It was the fault of the Imposter ** _s_** that The Skeld's A.I. went offline, and Zera's fault that the ship was skewed off-course, yet BLACK is the one taking all of the blame, and very willingly at that. He's trying to make it so that he's not apart of their thoughts. Like it was all just a bad dream.

Like none of it was real, and that no one needed to look further into it.

The group heard as someone took off running, turning just in time to see Red bolting out of the room. "Red?!" Cyan called after him, but he just kept running, heading towards Electrical. He stopped in the doorway, his arms out, hands braced on either side of the doorway. "Red?" The man said nothing for a moment, not even acknowledging that Cyan was with him. "...You still busy with your tasks, Black?" _What?_ All the tasks were finished, the A.I. was back online, why would--

"...Yeah." Cyan sucked in a breath. Black must have went into the vents after the A.I. turned back on and hid in here. "Ok. Well...come find one of us in you ever need anything, alright?" "Ok... Thanks, Red." Red turned then, his hand on Cyan's shoulder and quickly guiding her away.

"Black's decided to stay in Electrical for the time being. I let him know to come find any of us if he needs something, but he sounded ok to me." Were Red's words upon re-entering the Medbay. "...How did you even know that he'd be in there? Or even think to look there?" Yellow asked and Red sighed. "When you first assigned us our tasks, I had offered to go with Black, but that had freaked him out pretty bad; he said that he had a lot of tasks in Electrical and that he'd focus better if he was alone. I figured I could try and look there first." "That still doesn't explain how you even knew." Red let out another breath at Purple's words. "Look, when you're a parent, you just...know these things sometimes. Black isn't my child, but given that he's a runt of his kind, I doubt that he had parents that even cared about him."

"Ah, the parental mind. Such a wonder." Orange commented, clearly understanding quicker than the rest what Red was trying to say. "Well, you let me know if you need adoption papers." "ORANGE!" Red barked, thankful that his helmet was on, otherwise the crew would see just how much his face was matching his suit.


	11. 9 Days Until Arrival

Black did eventually show back up on his own.

Red greeted his return with a hug, Black confused by the reaction; weren't they mad at him for the extra time? He ignored that thought as Red's child hugged his leg tightly, knelling down and carefully wrapping his arms around their little body. "Happy you're back!" "Heh...me too. Sorry I was gone for so long, little one." Red's child giggled softly, pulling back just enough to look at Black's face, the Impostor seeing the bright grin the small human wore through their visor. "Black," Orange started, getting the man's attention. "Would...you be comfortable for me to do an examination on you?"

"To understand my biology, right?" A sigh escaped the doctor. "Yes. Your kind was just mere rumor before all of this; we still don't have any sort of understanding of how your biology would be different from our own." "Hmm... And there's no way to get Zera's body..." The words surprised the crew. "You have to understand, there's a reason I keep reminding you all that I'm a runt: there's not too many differences between myself and any of you." "But there would be clearer ones if we had the chance to examine Zera's corpse?" Black nodded. "I can explain to you what I can, but there's only so much I can tell you."

White scoffed. "What? Don't trust us?" "It's not that. Among my people, we runts are used as live training dummies that are allowed to be killed." The group froze. "There's only a very small handful of runts still even alive right now. Because we don't have the natural means to hunt--all the things that Zera showed, for example--we have to rely on our cunning and self-preservation instincts to survive, and even then only about 1 to 3 runts survive long even to become fully grown." "And...you're fully grown?" Orange asked and Black nodded.

"Once we're adults, we can't be killed without reason; our cunning makes us harder to kill at that point, and if we have the right tools at hand, we can even kill those like Zera with little effort." White wasn't sure what was more horrific: what's done to the things like Black, or that it admitted that it could kill Zera at any time if it had the right tools and motivations. "I do have more questions, but let's head over to the Medbay for now." Black nodded and followed Orange as they lead the way.

* * *

Orange made sure that the lock was engaged on the door before stepping further inside. "Why don't you stand on the scanner for a start, and we'll go from there." Normally, people weren't afraid of the scanner, but Black? The look of terror on his face instantly had Orange worried. "What's the matter?" "...What does it use to scan?" "Just a powerful magnetic field; radio waves, really. It's like an MRI machine. Is that ok?" "And you're sure that's the version on The Skeld?" Orange stepped closer to Black and double checked the equipment. "Yes. This one doesn't use gamma rays, just radio waves."

That quickly put Black at ease. "Do gamma rays harm your kind?" He nodded. "I'm not sure why though. All we know is that exposure to gamma rays, no matter how brief, causes us to become severely ill within minutes." Orange frowned at that. "Then I guess getting an X-ray of your body wouldn't be the best idea." "Well, if it's something you need, then we can do it; I'll just need to rest for about 5 days afterwards, so I suggest we do that last." "Are you sure?" Black nodded his head. Orange thought about what Black just said a few moments ago. The Skeld used to have a version of the scanner that DID use gamma rays in the past, and there's been records of several members of past crews unable to use it due to medical complications. Were those individuals Impostors?

They shoved that thought away as Black stepped onto the scanner, Orange moving next to him. "Alright, it'll start up in just a moment. Just stay as still as you can, and take deep breaths; it'll only be a few seconds." And then the grid below Black's feet glew a bright green and slowly lifted up his body, Black keeping his eyes closed as the ring moved over him. _...All of this must be scary for him._ He did say that he doesn't understand human technology, so for him to do this must be causing him some amount of distress. A few moments later, the scan was complete and Black stepped off the scanner, though Orange could tell he was trying to hide how quickly he wanted to step off the machine.

"You did very good, Black." Orange reassured and smiled as some ease washed back into his shoulders. "Now let's see..." Black was just like he appeared, for the most part: 5' 10", about 158 lbs, with an AB- blood type. "That's interesting." "What is?" "Well, besides the fact that your people share blood types with mine, the original Black's blood type is O-." "So our blood type doesn't change when we consume a human... That is interesting." Orange wasn't going to mention at the moment that Black's blood type was one of the rarest ones for humans to have.

"Now, I need to do a general examine. So if you would please remove your suit, Black." And as Black did so, they weren't sure what they were expecting to happen, but it certainly wasn't Black actually stripping out of the suit. _Hmm... And he's a runt?_ His muscles were clearly defined and his body was well toned; yes, there were a few scars here and there, but from what he had told the crew earlier, then these were the signs that he had managed to escape death when he was younger. Black now just stood in his underwear, sitting on one of the beds after Orange instructed him to. "I want to make sure that your human form is alright before I examine the other parts, is that alright?" Black nodded and Orange did the normal examination.

Black's eyes dilated like a human's, same number of teeth and placements--he had no tonsils, however, which was interesting--his heartbeat was slower than an average human's, sounding more like an athletes, his being about 45 beats per minute, and his lungs sounded stronger as well. Other than that, it was like Orange was examining one of the crew. "Good. Can you please show me your other parts now, Black?" Black nodded and he closed his eyes for a brief moment, clearly concentrating on shifting into _his_ normal appearance.

And all Orange could see of that shift themself was Black's nails growing shortly into claws that were as black as the suit he wore. "Do they naturally darken like that? Or is it something unique to you?" "It's a natural occurrence. This and the teeth are the only natural predatory parts about me. The only things to help me hunt." The only things to help him survive being hunted when he was a child. _What a cruel practice._ Orange was now thoroughly disgusted with Impostors if that's how they treat the weakest of their kind. "With your other eyes, can you see out of them like your human ones?" "Not in the same way, but yes. I can see heat signatures easily with them." "What about in the dark?" "We have the same cell receptors your eyes do, the only difference between my eyes and yours is that mine basically need no time to adjust to seeing in the dark; well...my vision is biologically much better than yours is." "Part of being a predator?" Black nodded.

Orange gently pressed the tip of their finger against the cat's eye yellow eye on Black's forehead; it felt the same under their finger, but... "Can you close this eye for me?" Black did as instructed and Orange was startled to find that the eye had no bump at all to indicate that it was even there; his forehead was smooth again under their touch. "Well... I don't know how to feel about that." "My people are shapeshifters, doctor." Black spoke up, not liking Orange's unease at the discovery. "We can change our entire appearance to be what ever we want it to be; hiding in plain sight is something we're taught to do from birth." "Your entire appearance?" Black nodded. "Even how my voice sounds too. We're designed to blend in seamlessly with any alien organic forms; alien to us." Like humans.

"So, you can change the color of your skin, hair, teeth, nails, and eyes, AND change the full appearance of your body?" "Yes. I can also completely change my sexual organs as well; yes, like humans we are born with either a male or female body, but because of our biology, it's really up to us if we wish to stay with that body type, form, and gender or if we want to change it. I was born a male, I do find the male form more comfortable, therefor I am a man. If the presences of a male makes someone on the crew uncomfortable, I can quickly shift into a female body type and shape to make them more at ease." "So, your people are shapeshifters, but are naturally androgynous?" "Some of my kind would agree, others would say we're more gender fluid, but either case is correct. It's really a person to person case."

"And you?" "I fit the 'gender norm', if you will. I was born a male, therefor I am a male, but I don't give a damn about my pronouns." "Really?" Orange found that interesting, given the mentality Black just described. "He/him, she/her, they/them, it doesn't matter to me; yes, I do prefer to be referred to as he/him, but I honestly don't have an opinion on my pronouns. Call me whatever the fuck you want if it makes you remember me or makes you more comfortable around me." _Is that why he hadn't been bothered whenever White calls him 'it'?_ It made the most sense.

"...About that x-ray..." Black sighed deeply. "I figured that was coming up. Alright, we can do it if you don't need to do any other tests or take any samples of anything." "Why would the exposure to gamma rays affect samples?" "You'll only be seeing my biology reacting to the effects of the rays as it tries to start healing. If you want a before and after to understand how I heal, go ahead, but if you're looking to just understand the anatomy of my cells, then I'd take those samples beforehand." Orange frowned under their helmet. They weren't going to lie and say that they weren't interested in how Black healed, but if they can at least understand how his cells are structured then they'll most likely be able to deduce how he heals so quickly. Black smiled softly, opening his mouth up so Orange can take some of the cells inside, holding still as he drew some blood as well.

"Lay down on here." Orange said as they moved to a different looking bed than the others in the room. "That's it, arms to your side, legs straight." Orange tapped a finger against Black's mouth, the man opening it and tasting as a thick, plastic mouth guard was slotted into place. "I don't want to possibly break your teeth or bite your tongue." Black nodded, trying to settle against the bed, but was finding it hard since he knew what was about to happen. "Slow breaths, close your eyes if it helps you relax, alright, Black?" Orange watched as he nodded, waiting until they saw some slumping in Black's shoulders before he turned on the machine.

The pain that slowly ripped through him wanted to make Black flinch away, but he kept still. If he flinched, they'll have to try again after he healed and he rather only go through this agony once. "A few more moments, you're doing great." Black inhaled deeply through his nose, forcing his body to stay relaxed until the scan was finished. He heard a beep and then Orange shifting around before arms were suddenly under his legs and shoulders, being scooped up easily into the doctor's arms, his body already losing its strength to even try and stand, let alone move his own limbs.

"Are Gamma rays the only way to get you into this state?" Orange asked as they removed the mouth guard, unsure of how coherent Black was at the moment. "There's...a few poisons from my home planet that harm us just as badly; terminal cancers and illnesses can cause the same reaction, but other than that, no." Well, he was well enough to talk at least; that'll help Orange out later. "Okay. You did really well, I'm very proud of you." A smile flickered onto Black's lips. A few moments later, he heard his heartbeat on the monitor next to the bed, glancing up to see his oxygen level and blood pressure as well as a few other things he couldn't guess what they were. "Your blood pressure has dipped harshly, and it looks like there's less oxygen in your blood now; your heartbeat is faster, as well as your breathing. You said you needed about 5 days to recover from Gamma exposure?" Black nodded carefully, his vision already tilting from side to side a little bit.

"Alright. I'll keep a close eye on your health for the first two or three days, and then check on you periodically afterward. Does that sound ok?" Black weakly nodded his head, his skin turning pale as a thin sheen of sweat started to form on his brow; looks like running a small fever is also apart of him becoming ill. Orange carefully pulled the sheet over Black's nearly bare body. "You get some sleep. I'll be back to check on you in an hour." "Alright. Thank you, doctor." Orange couldn't help the small smile that spread their lips. "Of course, Black."


End file.
